Scotland has 'staggering' number of public bodies, says watchdog

David Hamilton, the Scottish Information Commission (SIC), said he kept finding new authorities and regulators "that I never even knew existed".

He made the comments on BBC Scotland's Scotcast, where he was discussing the Scottish government's handling of the so-called Alex Salmond files.

Mr Hamilton has criticised the lack of transparency around an ethics investigation into Nicola Sturgeon in 2021, when she was first minister.

READ MORE: 'Salmond files' finally published, as Scottish Government makes thousands of documents public

Asked what had surprised him since taking on the role of SIC, Mr Hamilton said: "The number of agencies that exist in the public sector. I mean, it's staggering.

"I keep finding new authorities, new regulators and so on that I never even knew existed. And I don't actually know what a lot of them do. I'm sure they've got something. But there's a kind of invisibility that sits there.

"There's different groups that appear through legislation and I'm not entirely sure what they're doing for the public.

"And that lack of sight of them, and the lack of 'what value are they bringing?', does actually kind of puzzle me, to be honest, because I am very much focused on the fact that as a public servant myself, I know the constraints on the public service, the challenges and budget.

"But I sometimes think, 'What on earth does this organisation do, and how does that make anyone's life better?' I don't know."

Mr Hamilton took up post as Scottish Information Commissioner in October 2023, for a fixed term of six years, and is responsible for the enforcement and promotion of Scotland's freedom of information laws.

He was previously chair of the Scottish Police Federation.

He told Scotcast he was "probably" less reassured that Scotland is well run as a country since becoming the SIC.

"That's not a political statement," he said. "That's a system statement."

He said there was a "disjoint" and things were not "linked up", but added: "To be honest, I don't think that's any different from any other country. I don't think it's a uniquely Scottish problem."